USA: Man tries to get rid of snake infestation and ends up burning his house

What started out as an attempt to get rid of annoying creatures ended up with an entire house on fire.

A 900 m² home in Maryland, in the northeastern United States, was engulfed in flames on Nov. 23 when the home’s owner tried to get rid of a snake infestation on the property, he told the CNN Pete Piringer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire Department.

Piringer said snakes were a constant problem for this landlord as well as the previous tenant.

The man had set fire to a coal reserve on the top floor of the house to keep the snakes away. But the material was very close to other combustible substances.

The fire started in the basement and quickly spread to every floor, engulfing the entire house, according to the CNN, WJLA.

Piringer says to CNN that the owner was home a few hours earlier, but luckily no one was there at the start of the fire. A passing neighbor saw the smoke and called 911.

Around 10 pm, 75 firefighters appeared at the scene to fight the fire.

“There were no hydrants in the area,” said Piringer. “Which is not a problem, because we are used to it, but we had to go in water tankers.”

It took a few hours for firefighters to control the fire, which was not completely extinguished until the next morning.

The damage will cost more than $1 million (about R$5.6 million), Piringer said. The house was recently purchased for $1.8 million (about R$10 million), according to public records.

The fire department considered the incident an accident as there was no evidence or intention to start the fire.

Piringer recommends using other ways to fight an infestation.

“There are animal services that can come and make recommendations, or pest control, or an exterminator,” he said. “We recommend that you have professionals to handle any pest control issue to help maintain the situation.”

The status of the snakes is unknown, but as the house has been left in ruins, it is assumed that they no longer live there.